Machine for decorating fabrics



May 12, 1931. R. REISLEY uAcHI-NE FOR DECORATING FABRICS Filed June 25, 1929 INVENTOR.

RYAH R516 LE r f a 4w ATTORNEY. v

III I Patentedlvlay 1'2, 1%31 'n'rnn n-nrsnny, or sonnrsrnn, new "roan MACHINE DECORATENG FABRZCS Application filed June 25,

7 My invention concerns an apparatus by which painting-and decorating work on silks or other fabrics is facilitated. Some objects of myinvention have been: first, to permit painting or decorating work to be performed on complete rolls of goods; second, to do away with stretching frames and thus avoid the hazards, disadvantages and waste of time and space necessarily in- 710 volved in the use of such frames; third, to

eliminate the necessity of stretching the goods at the ends, the goods being stretched sideways only; fourth, to prevent uneven stretching and the occurrence of unevenly 3115 and unduly stretched sections in the fabric;

fifth, to facilitatethe application of a uniform tension to the goods and to allow a close adjustment of tension applied; sixth,

to provide endless horizontal conveyor means for fabrics in which the top stretch allows manual operations on the fabric whereas on the bottom stretch the fabric may be exposed to heat or chemical treatments; seventh, to economize space by'taking the goods 3' directly from rolls onto the working plane and by rewin'ding the fabric onto rolls as soonas the Work has been completed; eighth, to bring about the drying of the goods or to treat them otherwise near to and below the working plane without interfering with the decorating work proper; ninth, to allow the fabric to be placed onto rolls, directly from the stretching apparatus, without necessitating the handling of'the goods to bring about this transfer;

- With these and other objects in View I have developed the apparatus illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a side view of my apparatus in which a central section has been broken away. I

Figure 2 showsa sectioned end view. Figure 3 shows, in a top view, a corner part of my apparatus.

Figure 4 shows a section of a collapsible partition, used in my apparatus.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the various views.

I provide two long Irisers5 and 6 at the left end of my machine and two shorter 1929. Serial nolsvat'ze.

risers 7 at the right end thereof. The risers 5 and 6 on thcfleftend' of the machine are connected by across bar 8 and the risers7 on the other end of the machine are connected bya similar cross bar 9. The longitudinal bar 10 solidly connects the riser 6 to the corresponding riser 7 on the right side of the machine. A similar longitudinal barll extends between the crossbars 8 and 9. This longitudinal bar isnot solidly connected to 1 the frame, but its flatends 12 are slidable upon the cross bars 8 and 9 and fastened by the bolts 13 which are arranged in'suitable holes in the flat ends 12 of the longitudinal bars-11 and which register with slots 14: in the cross bars. These bolts allow the longitudinalbar 11'to be moved, parallel to itself, into or out of the frame. That movement of the longitudinal bar 11 across the frameof the machine is controlled by the adjusting screws 15 on the ends of which are provided the hand wheels 16 which serve to rotate these adjusting screws. The threads of the adjusting screws 15 engage upon tapped holes in the longitudinal bar 11. Straight un- '2 threaded parts on said adjusting screws are 'journaled'in the riser '5 andin the corresponding riser on the right end of the machine. The adjusting screws 15 are thrustwise retained in said risers by collars 17,

which are arranged to abut upon the insides of said risers, and, upon the outsides thereof, by the compression springs 18, which are arranged uponfthestraight parts'of the adjusting screws 13 between said risers and the hand wheels 16.

From the upper sides of the longitudinal bars 10 and 11 extend upwards longitudinal ribs 19 and 20, which form troughs in which endless conveyor belts are slidably arranged. 0 In the drawings these conveyor belts are given the shape of endless chains 21. These chains meshinto sprockets 22 and 23, pairs of which are arranged at the left and right end of the machine. Each pair of sprockets 22 and 23, is carried by a shaft 24;. The rear sprockets '23 are solidly mounted. upon the shafts 24 and they abut against the insidesof bearings 25 which form part of the longitudinal bar 10. Upon the outside, collars 26 are mounted next to these bearings upon the shafts 24 so that end play of the shafts 24 is eliminated. The front ends of the shafts 24 are provided with keyways 27; the sprockets 22 have keys on the insides allowing them to slide crosswise along the shafts 24. The sprockets 22 are retained in a position of abutment against the inside of the longitudinal bar 11 by brackets 28. These tudinal bar .11, may be adjusted parallel to and more or less close to the endless chain 21 which is accommodated by the trough on top of the longitudinal bar 10.

The endless chains 21 are provided, at ula r intervals, with special links from which protrude, outwardly, small pins 29, The special links upon which the pins .are mounted overlap the ribs 20 and the pins 29, onto which the fabric 60 is stretched, are oil'set sideways from the bodies of the chains and clear the small rollers which serve to re tain the chains in the troughs. These rollers are rotatably mounted upon brackets 31,

which extend, vertically upwards, from the ribs 19. These brackets are arranged at regular intervals, in the front and in the back of the machine, along its whole length.

Clearance openings are cut into the horizontal parts of the angle shaped longitudinal bars 10 and 11 at the points where the sprockets are mounted against the insides thereof, so that the pitch lines of the sprockets extend above said longitudinal bars, where the pitch lines of the chains in the troughs tangentially. merge into them.

The ends of the ribs 19 and 20 arecut off in alignment with said clearance holes in the longitudinal bars.

The risers 5 and 6 are provided at their upper ends withV-shaped notches 32 which rotatably support the take-off roll 33. Upon one end of the shaft of said take -off roll a groove 34 is provided which serves to keep said shaft in endwise alignment. Next to said groove 34 said shaft carries a pulley 35 over which extends a rope 36. One end of said rope is fastened on a pin 37 extending from the side of riser 5. At the very enda weight 38 is suspended from said rope 36. The rope is tightened over the pulley by the weight 38 and serves as a friction restraining the free rotation of the take-off roll '33. Below the take-off roll 33 a guide roller 39 is journaled in the risers 5 and 6. This guide roller serves to guide the fabric taken oil the take-off roll 33 onto the working plane of the machine. On the left of the risers 5 and 6 are mounted the brackets 40, in the V- shaped notches on top of which rotatably rests the shaft of the take-up roll 41. The end of said shaft and the end of the shaft 24 at the right end of the machine areprovided with crank handles 42 and 43, respectively, by means of which motion may be imparted to the feeding apparatus of my machine. Below the take-up roll 41 there is journaled in the frame, between the risers 5 and 6, a roll of paper 51.

At its right end, downward from the cross bar 9, the machine is closed off by a curtain or partition 44, extending down to the floor. From the bottom edge of the longitudinal bar 11 is suspended a curtain 45.. It contains in a seam at its lower end a bar 46.; this bar serves to stretch the curtain 45 in a .v'ertical direction; v

On :thebottom edge of the longitudinal bar 10 are mounted brackets 47 in which is journaled a roller 48.. A horizontal continuation 49 ofcurtain 45 which in width corresponds to the roller 48, extends over said roller, and hangs vertically downward from said roller on the back of the machine, its end being weighed down by a rod 50 which is similar to the rod 46 in the lower seam; From the right .end of the roller 48, to the right end of" the machine, another curtain or partition 52 closes the rear of the machine, so that by the curtains or partitions 44. 45, 49 and 52 the space belowthe machine is enclosed on three sides;

From the right end of the horizontal part of curtains 49 extends upward, at an angle, the partition 53. This partition is ,co'llaps ible, consisting of two parts sliding in each other, as shown in its plan view of Figure 4.

The ends of said partitions are fastened to studs 54 which are journaled in the longitudinal bars 10 and 11; one of said studs carries on its end, on the outside of longitudinal bar 11, handle 5.5"by means of which the angle of incline, at which said partition 53 is disposed, may be'changed.

Near the right end of the machine there are mounted, closely below the operating level, two rollers 56 which are covered on their cylindrical surfaces with absorbent material and which are, respectively, endwise retained on'the cross bars 10 and 11 by collars 57, the

other ends of the respective shafts being slida-ble, respectively,'in the other longitudinal bar. The cylindrical parts of these rollers are of a slightly shorter length than the width of the space between the longitudinal bars 10 and 11, when said bars are adjusted towards each other, as close as the means of adjustment allow. 7 Whereas the one of the rollers, which isendwise retained on the longitudinal bar 10, always retains the same position, the cylindrical part of the other roller moves in and out, according to the paratus has been elucidated by the above dework in particular, etc.

scription, I would like to give a short, com

prehensive review of its functions in the following: My machine is adapted'for the performance of many kindsof work on fabrics, cutting patterns therein, blocking, printing, embroidering, painting ingeneral, batik In this description I exemplarily explain the use of my apparatus for batik work.

The roll 33 contains the goods on which 5 the batik work is to be performed and the rope 36 is slung over the end of the shaft of said roll so that the weight 38, suspended therefrom, suitably restricts the rotation of the roll. The material is taken from roll 33 to be worked upon and this fabric is then waxed. When that operation is finished, the operator slightly releases the tension on the material, by operating the handwheels 16 (loosening and tightening bolt 13 before and after such operation) he thereby brings the two endless chains closer to each other; then he operates the crank 43 in clockwise direction, pulling the endless chains along the troughs on the longitudinal bars 10 and 11 to the right of the machine. He continues this operation until the material rolled off the take-off roll covers about two-thirds of the length of the machine, additional fabric taken from roll 38 being stretched onto the pins 29 extending from the chains, as said pins turn up over the pair of sprockets and 23 at the left end of the machine.

The part which has been waxed before, is now filled or dyed, while another operator waxes the new part of material which has been stretched across the top of the machine at the same location at which the waxing had been done before. Since the waxing opera tion takes only about half the time of the filling and dyeing operation it will be advisable to use two operators for the dyeing op eration whereas only one operator attends to the waxing. The time required. for the re spective operations varies however according to the complications of the batik pattern to I be placed onto the fabric. It is readily seen that the machine allows a distribution of the the lower extent of the chains.

work between the operators, as the occasion machine, and then suitable tension of the material is restored. Now the whole length of the machine is covered with material and while the respective operators resume the waxing and dyeing operations, the fan 58 or other means suited to supply air or hot gases are now set into operation. This air or gas is released from the enclosed space below the machine, upwardly, to the right of the partition 53. This current of gas or air passes through and plays overthe parts of the material which just have been dyed and begins to dry them. An adjustment of the angle, at which the partition 53 is disposed, is providedjfor,"to allow a setting of the upper edge of said partition as closely below the fabric stretched across the top of the machine as possible The horizontal part'of curtain 49 and this partition 53 prevent the current of air set up. below the machine from disturbing the work of waxing and dyeing the part of the material which extends from the left end of the machine to the top edge of said partition 58. At the same time they prevent a dripping of the paint from the filling position into the space below.

The above described operations are repeated each time the waxing and dyeing of a section of the fabric has been completed. The fabrics which so far have been fed across the top of the machine, start to travel down over-the sprockets 22 and 23 at the'right end of the machine during the successive. operations; the materials are again exposed to the current of gas or air in the space below the machine when they travel to the left, along Thus the fabric is completely dry when it again reaches, after further steps of operation, the left end of the machine. When the fabric requires additional processing, such finishing workmay also be performed while the fabric travels along the lower extent of the machine. In connection with batik work I may for instance unwax the fabric and fasten the colors whileittravels along the lower str'etch'of the chains, by passing it between plates which are/heated by gas, steam or electricity. The wax then diffuses or is driven by steam into absorbent paper which is inserted between the plates and the fabric. The heat set free by these plates, while passing from the enclosure below the machine, helps to dry the wet dyes on the fabricat the right end of the machine.

When the fabric reaches the left end of the machine, the end of it is taken off the chain and: placed onto the take-up roll 41.

T=he full width of the material is tacked to thecore of said take-up roll in a manner well known to those acquainted withthe art. A layer of the paper 51, taken from the paper roll below, is fed onto the roll 41 below the goods wound onto said roll so that successive layers of the fabric rolled onto the roll 41 are always separated by av layer of the paper 51. Thus'the wax and the dyes placed onto one layer of the goods are prevented from resting in direct touch upon other layers of goods on the roll 41.

Before the material stretched across the top of the machine reaches the right end of the maciine, it messes closely above the rollers 56, which are covered with absorbent mate- ;rial. Ifthe operator should. be careless in spreading and in filling the dyes onto the fabric, so much of said dyes as will penetrate the goods and will be suspended from the goods as they pass to the right of the machine, will be taken up and. absorbed by the rollers 56, so that any undue amount of dye applied has been reduced or removed, when the goods .start to move downward around the sprockets 22 and 23 at the right end of the machine. Thus the running off or undue spreading of the dye, when the fabric starts to move vertically downward, is prevented. The rollers 56 may be operatively connected to the shaft 24 at the right end of the machine.

Once the material fed through my machine has reached the take-up roll 41, successive feeding of the material along the length of the machine will not have to be brought about by the crank 43. The movement of the'fabric, between operations, may now be brought about by rotating the take up roll 41 by means of the handle 42, in counterclockwise direction. I may however use a second operator who will be of assistance to the operator turning crank 42b turning crank L3 at the same time, thus facilitating the movement of the goods. This may be done in particular, when, during the period "of feeding the material along the machine, comparatively hi h tension is retained, which causes the endless conveyor means to slide along under a greater friction. V V

A great number of modifications in the arrangement of my machine suggest themselves to those versed in the mechanical sciences. Since the machine comprises a number of parts, the operation of each of which depends on well known mechanical principles I do not desire to limit'the protection secured by this patent to the exact means and mechanisms shown, but I desire to have the drawings considered as exemplary, and to protect my invention in its full scope, within the limits set by the prior art and by the appended claims.

I claim: '1. In a machine for decorative work on fabrics, a frame, two substantially parallel said curtain to the lower side of said fabrics stretched across said belts, means for swinging said partition around an axis parallel to said fabrics stretched across said belts and means for moving said belts in coextensive unison along the surface of saidframe.

2. In a machine for decorative work on fabrics, a frame, two substantially parallel endless conveyor belts, movably arranged upon the surface of said frame, a plurality of pins protruding from said belts, said pins al lowing said fabric to be stretched thereon between said belts, rolls of absorbent material arranged below the said fabric stretched across said belts, and means for moving said belts in coextensive unison along the surface of said frame.

3. In a machine for decorative work on fabrics, a frame, two substantially parallel endless conveyor belts, rotatable supporting means onboth ends ofsaid belts, meanson said chains by which said fabrics may be fastened thereon, an upper stretch'on said chains extendingalong the surface of said frame, a lower stretch on said chains, parti tioning means between said upper and lower stretches of said chain and partitions on the side of said frame forming an enclosure in combination with said partitioning means.

- Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 24th day of June A. D. 1929.

RYAH REISLEY.

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